The present invention is directed to the field of safety. More particularly, the present invention is directed to an elegantly simple ladder clamp that is simply safe.
Numerous attempts have been made to produce a ladder clamp which prevents a ladder from sliding along the face of a gutter thereby putting the ladder climber at risk for life and limb. Applicant's earlier invention, Ladder-Supporting Gutter Clamping System, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/916,507 filed Mar. 9, 2018, goes a long way toward providing a simplified, effective ladder clamp. However, the present invention takes an additional step at providing simple, effective ladder clamps that can be produced inexpensively without jeopardizing effectiveness resulting in a clamp that is truly, simply safe.
The present invention is a simply safe ladder clamp for gutters having a front face with a portion which has a generally vertical face with an inwardly protruding flange, said clamp comprising a) a generally Sigma-shaped body portion having a first downwardly extending arm and a second downwardly extending arm, the first and second downwardly extending arms subtending an intermediate element having an inner laterally extending flat surface and a recess adjacent the first downwardly extending arm, the first downwardly extending arm engaging an external portion of the vertical face of the gutter and the recess accommodating the inwardly protruding flange of the gutter; b) a clamping member having a first flat face for engaging the laterally extending surface of the body portion and a second orthogonal flat face for engaging an inner surface of the vertical face of the gutter opposite the first downwardly extending arm to clamp the simply safe ladder clamp to the vertical face of the gutter; c) an elongated threaded member: i) extending through and having threaded engagement with an opening in the second downwardly extending arm; and, ii) extending through and having non-threaded engagement with an opening in the clamping member; d) cap means securing a first end of the elongated threaded member to the clamping member in a manner permitting rotation; e) a manually engageable element secured to a second end of the elongated threaded member, whereby rotation of the elongated threaded member causes movement of the clamping member from a first non-clamping position to a second clamping position engaging the inner surface of the vertical surface of the gutter. The simply safe ladder clamp may have an outer portion of the subtended intermediate element being arcuate. The manually engageable element can comprises a five-star knurled grip thumb screw cap.
Various other features, advantages, and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent after a reading of the following detailed description.